Virginia Journal of Education

Speaking of Education

“Many of us feed the brain, but all of us feed the soul…we must be a united front for our students and public schools.”Janet Eberhardt, NEA’s Education Support Professional of the Year, a community relations specialist in San Francisco, on teachers and ESPs working together

“The most powerful people on earth are not presidents. They are teachers and writers.”David Quenah, who came to the U.S. as a 16-year-old refugee from civil war in his home country of Liberia in 2004, was educated here and has started a nonprofit to help Liberian children

“So what empowers some educators to be fearless? I think for many people, it starts from an inner moral compass they possess. They know something is wrong. They have this nagging sense that things are going awry.”Veronica McDermott, regional director, National Urban Alliance

“The school-to-prison pipeline is a real thing. We’ve seen some heartbreaking stories where, instead of getting sent to the principal’s office, kids are getting sent straight to the juvenile center.”Grammy-winning musician John Legend

"It's not that I don't think math and science are important. They still are. But more than ever our secret sauce comes from our ability to integrate art, science, music and literature with the hard sciences. That's what produces an iPod revolution or a Google."Thomas Friedman, author, The World is Flat

“I'll never forget the teacher who said to me, ‘Read, my child. Read everything.’" Congressman John Lewis

“With schools more influential in the social development of children than ever before, the need for powerful role models both inside and outside of the classroom is of critical importance…it is important for teachers to be good role models, but children will learn just as much about life from people who work in the office, on the playing field, in the lunchroom, and on the school bus.”Adam Holden, chair, Department of Teacher Education, Fort Hays State University

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